Catechism of the Catholic Church

291

The Celebration of the Christian Mystery

positive disposition for grace, a promise and guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine worship and to the service of the Church. Therefore these sacraments can never be repeated. III. T he S acraments of F aith Christ sent his apostles so that “repentance and forgive ness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations.” 41 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” 42 The mission to baptize, and so the sacramental mission, is implied in the mission to evangelize, because the sacrament is prepared for by the word of God and by the faith which is assent to this word: 1122 1123 “The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and ex press it. That is why they are called ‘sacraments of faith. ’” 44 1124 The Church’s faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it. When the Church celebrates the sacra ments, she confesses the faith received from the apostles—whence the ancient saying: lex orandi, lex credendi (or: legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi, according to Prosper of Aquitaine [5th cent.]). 45 The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church believes as she prays. Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition. 46 1125 For this reason no sacramental rite may be modified or manipulated at the will of the minister or the community. Even the supreme authority in the Church may not change the liturgy arbitrarily, but only in the obedience of faith and with religious respect for the mystery of the liturgy. The People of God is formed into one in the first place by the Word of the living God. . . . The preaching of the Word is required for the sacramental ministry itself, since the sacra ments are sacraments of faith, drawing their origin and nourishment from the Word. 43

849 1236

1154

166

1327

78

1205

41 42 43 44 45

Lk 24:47. Mt 28:19.

PO 4 §§ 1, 2.

SC 59.

Ep. 8. 46 Cf. DV 8.